


An Ending Most Sweet

by ladymidath



Category: Gun Shy (2000)
Genre: Snippets
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2004-01-15
Updated: 2004-01-15
Packaged: 2019-02-05 15:23:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,846
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12797235
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladymidath/pseuds/ladymidath
Summary: Gun ShyNote: This is for Bertina because she wanted it. :-) I hope that this is what you were expecting *grin* This story was actually inspired by something that Elaine said on list one day. ::waves:: Thanks hon.





	1. part 1

**Author's Note:**

> Note from Haven, the archivist: This story was originally archived at [Fandom Haven Story Archive (FHSA)](http://fanlore.org/wiki/Fandom_Haven_Story_Archive), was scheduled to shut down at the end of 2016. To preserve the archive, I began working with the OTW to transfer the stories to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project in November 2017. If you are this creator and the work hasn't transferred to your AO3 account, please contact me using the e-mail address on [Fandom Haven Story Archive collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/fhsa/profile).

"So how are you doing Charlie?" Dexter asked as he sat himself down onto the gilt edged chair. He watched as his agent, his best agent paced up and down, his feet all but wearing tracks into the expensive hotel room carpet. 

 

Charlie glanced up at him with eyes that were dark and haunted with fear. "Not good Dexter." He replied, his voice tense. "Not good at all." 

 

"Look, I know you're scared." Dexter said, his own voice a calm counterpoint to Charlie's strained one. 

 

"Do you blame me Dexter?" Charlie replied. "Jesus Christ, after what just happened. I thought I was going to get my head blown off. That fucking Fulvio Nesstra is crazier than I thought, and as for those two Colombians..." 

 

"Look, it was unfortunate but..." Dexter began, but Charlie cut him off. He whirled on the other man, face red with a mixture of anger and fear. 

 

"Unfortunate, shit Dex, Fulvio shot the guy's ball off. One minute they were both taking a leak in the john and then the next there was this gunshot. There was blood everywhere. Christ." 

 

He stopped, bending over slightly as yet another stomach cramp gripped him. Swallowing hard, Charlie tried to straighten up but it was difficult when it felt as though there was a hyperactive weasel running around in your guts. 

 

"Still having trouble with your stomach?" Dexter asked calmly. Charlie glared at him for a moment. 

 

"Yeah, as a matter of fact I am." He replied sarcastically. "I guess it's coming from all that partying that I'm doing, or maybe it's because I'm scared out of my goddamned fucking mind!" 

 

Dexter sighed and sat back against the chair, his eyes fixed on the other man. "Charlie, I need for you to get this under control, we have a bust going down any day now and I can't have my only inside man having a nervous breakdown on me." 

 

"Fuck you Dexter." Charlie snapped at him, his already frayed temper snapping. "In fact, fuck not only you, but the DEA, the FBI, the AFT, and the fucking CIA for that matter. I'm not doing this anymore." 

 

"Charlie..." Dexter began, but Charlie shook his head, no longer listening to his boss. 

 

"The whole operation had turned to shit Dex in case you haven't noticed. Someone blew us in on the Miami operation. Josh is dead and Warren Ganza..." 

 

"Has no credibility what so ever, besides we have Dave Juniper watching you." 

 

Dexter replied, trying to inject some calm into the increasingly hysterical conversation. Hell, the DEA supervisor had seen agents lose their calm before, but not like this. He was seriously beginning to fear for Charlie's sanity. 

 

"It doesn't matter Dex, he's still out there, he could still blow me in." 

Charlie's voice was beginning to shake now. His face had taken on a sickly looking pale texture, with twin hectic coloured spots on his cheeks. 

 

"That's not going to happen Charlie." Dexter reassured the frightened man as soothingly as he could. "I talked to Lonny and..." 

 

"Fuck Lonny!" Charlie burst out. "He doesn't know what the hell's going on. As a matter of fact, he doesn't know his ass from a whole in the ground...and for that matter, neither do you!" 

 

He stopped when he saw the colour slam into his boss's face. The bigger man got to his feet, drawing himself up to his full height. Charlie stared back at him warily now, sensing Dexter's rapid loss of patience with his agent. 

 

"Charlie, I know that you are scared, hell you have every right to be. After all you saw your partner get blown away and you dammed near followed him." 

 

"And that's why you have to get me out of this." Charlie replied, almost pleadingly. "I'm am scared Dex, I'm not ashamed to admit it. I'm scared, and that's why I want out." 

 

Dexter sighed shaking his head. "Charlie, I can't get you out just yet. You know that we don't have enough on either the Minetti's, or the Vailar's for that matter. Look we are talking about billions of dollars here, not to mention..." 

 

"Not to mention the fact that Fulvio is a fucking psycho and Fidel and his buddy Estuvio hate his fucking guts. And as for Jason Cane, he is a goddamned yuppie 

idiot who is going to get us all killed." 

 

Charlie stopped, his chest heaving with emotion. Cold sweat had popped out all over his face, practically dripping down his cheeks. Dexter frowned, fear sweat. That's what it was, hell he had seen enough men bathed in it during his time with the DEA. As a matter of fact, he had been bathed in it himself more times then he would care to remember. 

 

"I can't do this any more Dex. I can't." His voice cracked as he spoke, his eyes wide and unfocussed, staring into space. 

 

"You can't cancel tonight Charlie." Dexter's voice was firm. Striding over to where his agent was standing, he took firm hold of Charlie's arm. 

 

"Listen to me, if you cancel tonight, they will be suspicious. They will all know that something's wrong. Are you listening to me Charlie?" Dexter gave the younger man's arm a sharp shake. "Charlie!" 

 

Charlie stared at him with those terrible glassy eyes. Staring at him, past him, through him. Dexter suddenly realized that his agent was in the grip of some kind of panic attack. He was almost in a fugue state now. 

 

"Charlie, come on, come back." Not quite knowing what to do, Dexter snapped his fingers in front of Charlie's face. The sound was loud in the quiet hotel room. 

Charlie for his part seemed unaware of his boss's presence, instead he still stared out into space, mumbling something under his breath. 

 

"Charlie, come on, you have to pull yourself together." Dexter could feel the sweat pop out over his own forehead now. Jesus, he was so close, he could not let one panic stricken man blow this for him. If anything was to go wrong, Don Minetti would have his balls in a sling. 

 

Charlie did not seem to hear him, he was locked away somewhere deep inside his own private fear. A fear that had Fulvio Nesstra's face all over it. 

 

Suddenly desperate, Dexter grabbed his agent and shook him hard. Charlie's head snapped back and forth, but the vacant look remained in his eyes. 

 

A short sharp shock, that was what was needed to snap Charlie out of this fit. Dexter's mind was racing now, going over the little medical knowledge that he possessed. He remembered from somewhere that the thing to do was to give the person a hard slap to the face. That usually snapped them out of it. 

 

Not being able to think of anything else, Dexter drew his hand back...then stopped. 

 

He could not have his undercover agent go to this meeting with a mark on his face. Nesstra and the Colombians would want to know what happened. No, it was too risky. Dexter cursed under his breath. He had to snap Charlie out of this and now. 

 

But how? Dexter's face brightened, a sudden idea coming to him. His grip still firm on Charlie's arm, he pulled the agent over to the chair that Dexter had been sitting on earlier. Without warning he sat down, pulling Charlie over his knee. 

 

Finding himself dangling over his boss's lap seemed to bring Charlie too once more. He lifted his head up, trying to crane his neck around to look at his boss. 

 

"Dexter, what the hell do you think you're doing?" He yelped. 

 

"Just this." Dexter's hand rose over Charlie denim covered behind and came down with a tremendous swat. 

 

"What the fuck..." Charlie yelled. "Dexter, have you lost your mind?" 

 

"No, I'm merely trying to stop you from losing yours." With that, Dexter aimed several more spanks to the other's man's backside. 

 

For his part, Charlie struggled and cursed, trying desperately to avoid the heavy hand of his superior." 

 

Finally the spanking stopped. Charlie lay draped across Dexter's knee, his face as red as his butt underneath the tight jeans he was wearing. 

 

"Now that I have your attention Charlie. I think that we should have a little chat." Dexter said, the epitome of calm and reason, despite the fact that he was still holding his top agent face down over his knee after just thoroughly tanning said agent's ass. 

 

"First of all. You are going to make that meeting tonight because if you don't, then the bad guys are going to get suspicious and someone will get killed. Second of all, I know full well that Warren Ganza is out there and trust me when I say that we will get the little bastard. And third of all..." With that, he lifted Charlie up off his lap and sat him down onto his knees. 

 

Charlie winced and hissed with pain. 

 

"And third of all, you know that I care far too much about you to let yourself get killed." 

 

Charlie sighed, but said nothing. At the moment he was too nervous to speak in case he received another spanking. Even though he was a match for Dexter in height, when it came to strength, he was no match at all. His boss lifted weights everyday and Charlie knew for a fact that Dexter's favourite pastime was spent in the boxing ring. 

 

"Listen to me Charlie." Dexter's breath was warm against the younger man's ear. "You think that we don't give a shit about you, that we only care about making a bust. Well that's not true. I care about all my agents under me. I care about their safety and their welfare. But most of all, I care about them. And you Charlie, you are the best agent I have at the moment. I need you to be with it tonight. And every other night until this thing is done. Then you can retire to 

your ocean view, but until then I need you to get your fear under control and focus. Am I making myself clear?" 

 

"Yes." Charlie replied, his voice hoarse. "I...I'l be okay now Dexter, I promise." 

 

"Good." Dexter replied, suddenly he gathered his agent into his arms, giving him a reassuring cuddle. 

 

"You'll be just fine Charlie, I know you will be." He told the younger man. Charlie nodded, the terror had fled from his eyes now, his body felt looser, more relaxed. It seemed that the spanking had managed to act as a catalyst, helping Charlie release the fear that had held him in a grip of iron. 

 

Slowly Charlie lifted himself up of Dexter's lap, his stinging butt protesting at the sudden movement. Dexter put a hand out to steady the younger man, his face filled with concern. 

 

"You okay Charlie?" 

 

Charlie gave the older man a smile. "Yeah Dex...thanks." 

 

"That's all right." Dexter replied, then he glanced at his watch. "Time for you to start getting ready for your big meeting." 

 

Charlie glanced at him, his eyes troubled. "Yes, all right. Um, Dex?" 

 

"What is it?" Dexter asked. Charlie offered a tentative smile. "Thanks for helping me not lose it back there." 

 

Dexter returned his smile with one of his own. "Any time Charlie, any time."


	2. Part 2

Six months later 

 

Dexter was lying on the beach, soaking up some rays. He had not been on the island very long, only just a few days in fact but he had already fallen in love with the place. 

 

Now he knew what Charlie had been talking about when he had mentioned the ocean view. In fact it was the one clear thing that he recalled about his top DEA agent. How much he had wanted to retire to the ocean view. 

 

Dexter wondered briefly about Charlie Mayo, wondered where he had disappeared to. Probably his own private island somewhere. Hell he had gotten his hands on enough cartel money to be able to buy anywhere he wanted to. 

 

Things had not gone so well for Dexter, or Jason Cane aka Jerry Finestein. They had both been staring down the barrel of jail sentences. Dexter had managed to cut a deal with the DA and had turned state's evidence. As for Jerry, well that slippery little bastard had managed to weasel his way out of a cell and had his sentence suspended in order for his full cooperation. It had not surprised Dexter though, the DEA was after the bigger fish anyway. Small fry like Finestein did not really matter. 

 

Dexter had testified and many bad guys, Mafia and cartel alike had fallen, all in all it had been a good day for the good guys. After it all, Dexter had decided to make himself scarce. Don Minetti had quite a few of his hit men out looking for him at the moment, so an island in the Pacific had seemed ideal. Ad he made sure never to stay in one place too long. 

 

But here... Dexter watched as a couple of young women walked by, hips gently swaying, deeply tanned skin shining against brightly coloured bikinis and sarongs. 

 

Dexter's smile widened to a grin, oh yeah, this was definitely the place for him. Who knows, he might meet a nice local lad around here. Dexter's interests did not really lay with the ladies, that was part of the reason that he had never married. The one man who he had really felt attracted to, well he was gone. God only knows where. 

 

Dexter had not wanted to kill Charlie, but at the time he'd had no choice. He had stood, weapon pointed at the man that he really cared for, his own stomach churning with the task in front of him. He had waited Fulvio to kill Charlie, so he would not have had to. But of course the little wop bastard had not. He had tried to kill Dexter instead. 

 

The look of hatred on the little guinea's face. Dexter wondered what had become of Fulvio Nesstra. He hoped that the bastard was lying in a shallow grave somewhere. 

 

"Dexter?" 

 

Dexter's eyes opened as an all too familiar voice called his name. Standing on the yellow sand in front of him was none other than Charlie. 

 

Stunned, Dexter got to his feet, facing his ex agent. "Charlie, I didn't know you were here." 

 

"I live here." Charlie replied, he seemed just as stunned as Dexter was at finding his former boss lying on the beach. 

 

"You live here?" Dexter echoed, then the realization hit him. "This place, it's your ocean view isn't it? The one you were always talking about. The ocean view." The older man shook his head an amazement at the uncanny coincidence. 

 

Charlie nodded. "That's right Dex, this place is my ocean view. But what I want to know is, how the hell did you find it?" 

 

Dexter sighed and shook his head. "Would you believe by accident." He answered. 

"And how did you escape going to prison, not to mention Carmine Minetti?" 

 

Charlie seemed genuinely curious now. Dexter's lips quirked up in a smile. 

 

"That's a story within itself." He replied. 

 

"Well why don't you come to my house for some late lunch and you can tell me all about it." Charlie replied with a smile. 

 

Dexter hesitated for a moment, then sighed. "Okay then, why not."


	3. Part 3

The villa was small but comfortable and had a magnificent view of the water. Both Dexter and Charlie sat sipping cups of strong sweet coffee, watching as the seagulls wheeled and swooped overhead. 

 

The maid, a pretty girl called Rosita freshened their coffee with a local cognac, then left them to their conversation. 

 

"So you turned state's evidence." Charlie mused as he looked out over the late afternoon sky. "It's amazing Dex, you caused the death of my partner Josh and that Juniper kid, and they let you walk. Jesus Christ." 

 

Dex said nothing, after all what was there to say? There was no way that he was going to tell Charlie that he had killed Lonny as well. Well, not yet anyway.

 

"What about Minetti?" Charlie asked. "I would have thought he would have had you whacked." 

 

Dexter shrugged. "Why do you think I'm here now instead of back in the States." 

 

That got a chuckle out of Charlie. "You know something Dexter?" He began. 

 

The older man glanced up at him. "What?" He asked. 

 

"You are fucking incredible. No wonder you needed me to keep the operation going. Here I was thinking that we were going to take down the Minettis and the Vailars and all the time you were skimming from the goddamned both of them. You had it all set up with Carmine Minetti didn't you?" 

 

Dexter nodded. "Yeah, that about sums it up." He replied quietly. "I guess you must really hate my guts for what I did to you, and to Josh and the Juniper kid." 

 

Charlie sighed, then shook his head. His face had become thoughtful now. "You know something Dexter, by rights I should. I should be putting a bullet into the back of your head and tossing you off his balcony into the ocean. But I'm not going to. And do you know why?" 

 

Dexter shook his head, his dark brown eyes fixed on Charlie's face. 

 

"Because this place washes everything clean. That's why." Charlie replied. "I came here to get away from all that. From murder and theft and people preying on each other. I came here for the ocean view Dex, and that's precisely what I have. The ocean view." 

 

With that, his hand swept out to take in the huge expanse of sea and sky. Dexter stared at him for a moment, not quite sure of what to say. He had been expecting Charlie to start cursing him out. Calling him every name under the sun and hell, it was not like he did not deserve it. But this. This was like some kind of forgiveness. 

 

Dexter felt a faint hope rise up in his chest, could it be possible? No, how could Charlie ever forgive him, or more importantly, forget all that had happened. After all, it was Dexter that had caused him to lose his nerve. He had been at the bottom of all of Charlie's sleepless nights and panic attacks. 

How could he hope for forgiveness when in his heart, he knew that he did not deserve it. 

 

As if sensing his thoughts, Charlie smiled gently and reached out to take one of Dexter's hand's in his own. 

 

"Do you remember that night, when I had that panic attack and what you did to snap me out of it?" 

 

"I spanked you." Dexter replied. "It was the only way that I could bring you back around Charlie. I didn't want to but hell, I had absolutely no idea of what to do." 

 

"I know." Charlie replied. "But it worked Dex, it worked and that night, the meeting went off like a charm. No pills, no nearly shitting in my pants. No fear. I went into that meeting calmer than at any other time in my life, and it was thanks to you." 

 

Dexter stared at him for a moment, then replied. "I never meant for anyone to get killed Charlie. I got greedy sure, I was happy to go into partnership with Carmine Minetti for a couple of mil, but when Josh got killed and then the kid..." 

 

"Not to mention Lonny." Charlie cut in. Dexter stopped. 

 

"You know about Lonny?" 

 

"I know about everything Dex, always have, always will." Charlie leaned back against his chair,a smile lifting his shapely mouth. 

 

"It's a different world here Dex, a whole different world." 

 

Before the older man knew what he was doing, he found himself leaning over to kiss Charlie long and deeply. Charlie sat in his chair, lips pressed against his ex-boss's. He made no attempt to draw away though. In fact, Dexter could feel Charlie's lips part and soon he was being kissed right back. 

 

Finally they broke the kiss, Dexter stunned but pleased all the same. Charlie sat, regarding the older man, his eyes shining. 

 

"Well, I wasn't quite expecting that." 

 

That made Dexter laugh. "To tell you the truth, I was not expecting that either." He replied. Then the laughter disappeared from his face, sobering, he looked at Charlie, facing the other man squarely. 

 

"How can you not hate me for everything that I have done?" He asked, his voice soft. 

 

A sudden cool breeze had sprung up now, sending sweet scents from the gardens below wafting up towards the two men. 

 

"We can talk about this tonight." Charlie answered. "I have to be honest though Dexter. I can't guarantee that there won't be hard feelings, but at least we can try. I would like to think that I can forgive. That way I can be part way on the road to healing. And that's important to me. To my soul, to be able to forgive." 

 

Dexter nodded and smiled. He did understand what Charlie was talking about. To be able to forgive, heal and then move on. That's what Dexter needed to do as well, for despite how everything had turned out, he still suffered sleepless nights and the pangs of his conscience. 

 

Innocent people had been killed and he was responsible. That was what he had to face, and maybe with Charlie's help, he could face it. Face it and start working towards some kind of redemption. 

 

"I need to face what I have done." Dexter spoke aloud, then looked up into the face of the man that he had betrayed. The man that he had cared about more than anything. The man that he still cared about damn it. 

 

"Yes Dexter, you do." Charlie replied. "And I can help you, if you can help me that is." 

 

"How?" Dexter asked. Charlie grinned. "Well, I think that the same therapy you used on me back at my hotel room that night might just do the trick, don't you agree?" 

 

Charlie had to stifle a laugh at the way Dexter's eyes widened. Now that had definitely gotten a reaction. 

 

"Well Ah, if you think Charlie." Dexter replied, looking decidedly nervous. Charlie nodded. "I do Dex, I sure as hell do." 

 

Suddenly Charlie got to his feet, holding his hand out to Dexter, they both went back inside the villa. The maid Rosita watched them curiously as they made their way towards the back of the house, to where the bedrooms were. 

 

She sighed, then shrugged her slender shoulders, it was none of her business anyway. And she went back to her dusting as the sun slowly began to sink down onto the horizon, casting gently rosy hues across the polished wood and marble of the villa. 

And the gentle sounds of the two men coming from the master bedroom mingled with the cry of the seagulls as one by one, they slowly came into shore. 

 

THE END


End file.
